Author
Topic: Another button going out. (Read 11023 times)

Hi All, PSR S900 Well it looks like the A button "at left of screen" is losing contact when pressed. I don't think it's long before it won't contact at all.

I can't find the Forum threads where dirty contacts were discussed some time ago. It started by not working 1st push, then a little wriggle, now it took a lot of wriggles this morning. Open to suggestions.

Unfortunately, Yamaha went to a carbon contact button system, which turned out to be a nightmare. The old positive latching buttons on the old keyboards are still functioning today, while most of the carbon contact buttons have failed.

The bad news is they cannot be repaired, and the entire row of buttons on that side is a single strip, not individual buttons.

Try spraying some canned air on the button, which sometimes blows off a tiny particle of dirt or grit that may be fouling the button switch. DO NOT use WD-40 or a similar product. This usually results in a dead short and could possibly damage the mother board.

In some instances, the buttons on both sides of the display were part of the display board. Try contacting Yamaha Customer Service in your part of the world and they may provide you with a free fix. This happened in the past when the displays went dead, even long after the warranty expired.

The new PSR-S670 has omitted the screen buttons entirely, and relies completely on the data wheel and enter button for scrolling through and selecting screen items. I wonder if this could be a harbringer of things to come for the rest of the PSR-S line. In view of Gary's comments on the carbon contact switches, this would be ten fewer items to go bad.

I doubt it very much. The 670 is a different beastie to the 9xx models. A lot closer than the previous 6xx models, for sure, but not the same. The O/S of the 9xx is more advanced, and I personally find the scroll, dial, press enter etc method a PITA! If we see a big change to the 9xx models, it will be a move to a touch screen, I'm sure.

Carbon contacts are here to stay, they're found in just about everything and have been a bit of a pain since they first came on the scene. It only takes a bit of grit or dirt to get in and the problems start. Unfortunately many people then start pressing the button harder and harder to try to 'fix' the problem. Alas, this just makes it worse. The only real solution is to open to keyboard up enough to get access to the offending carbon contact, then either use an air can or, better still, some denatured alcohol on a cotton bud/Q-tip. While the contact is exposed, you may as well do all the others. Sometimes you just have to replace the contact strip.

None of the cleaning or replacement processes take much time in themselves. Dismantling and reassembling the keyboard - that's a longer job. Just be thankful you don't have a top of the range organ to dismantle - they can take hours!

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